That's a great idea.

MARVEL? You listening? I thought that the idea of the hidden kingdoms motif being a reason to introduce Atlanteans in the next Black Panther movie would be one of those smart Marvel Studios ideas. But rather than the initial contacts being T'Challa and Namor, let Namorita be the tech person in Atlantis and give some reason for the contact with Shuri.

So interesting, right? It may be one of the least stunning pages from the 60s Everett SM era, but the history of the time and place pushed me right over the edge when I saw this. You just *know* something is off but you flip to the credits and kind of force-fit it. Well... Bill was using his feet that morning and the little wings got in the way :)

Thanks. The history on this page made it appealing when I was picking it up (a million years ago).

Thanks, Joe. I am sure glad I started buying comic art before it turned into a double-mortgage affair. It's been a loooong time since any mainstream stuff was added to my collection.

Haha. That's a great idea for FF swag - the FF fashion line.

My pleasure!

Thanks, Bill. Well, really: thanks on behalf of Carson!

Haha! For sure. The portrait in the middle really strikes me and it would have been great to have lots more of this kind of stuff in there, too.

Agreed! 

OK... the note is funny. It's in there now.

Hi Marcus. Everything you see in black is inkwork by Carson, done over a blueline printout. From a process perspective:

(1) Dave/Carson collaborate on layout using photocopied images and create a collage of the final page(s), including placement of captions and word balloons for the author-written parts of the book

(2) the final version of that is scanned and printed in cyan on comic art board; that is what Carson inked, and that is what you see in the posting, so that lettering in the strips (and all the ink) is all Carson

(3) of note, part 1: the Alex Raymond panel of the girls talking about chemistry was just too small to be able to redraw it on that scale (points to Carson for trying); but he finally said "f--- this" (actually, that note is on the panel, written to himself, but I've not included a high res version of that... haha); so he drew the panel at a human scale (I posted that at CAF, too) and then they scanned, reduced, and inserted that panel digitally

(4) of note, part 2: Dave's final dialog and captions were all added digitally, later

Thanks. Didja see page 1? I think it is really something. Of course, that's why I got it! 

I like his work a lot. It's the classic comic art approach.

Haha. Sorry about that, RS. There was lots to love in this one. B.

I'm a sucker for things that appeared in my birth year. And this ran a week after Sputnik launched. The accounts of the "Mike Wallace Interviews" show are pretty interesting.

I agree. I agree. They capture such a peachy-keen snapshot of the time, different than a written piece of correspondence but richer in some many ways, like a piece of architecture. 

It would be so much fun to fire up the way-back machine and drop into one of these studios, in 1940, and interview these guys while they were cranking this stuff out. We know so much about the Marvel process from the 1960s, and (apparently) so little about the process in this era.

It's really nice. And... this is all Carson artwork. At this point, Dave was collaborating on the layouts and dialogue, and likely the unpacking of the art styles, but the artwork itself is Grubaugh. 

I see what you did there (get ya, get ya). Hahaha! Thanks. 

Agreed! :)

Anything at all remotely related to the stuff I bought and read as a pre-teen in the 1960s rings my bell. You had no idea what was coming out or when. You knew where every wooden newsstand or magazine display or variety store with a spinning rack was located and within peddling distance on your bike. Thumbing through the nearly randomized books, you had to be sure you were checking every one in case there was a singleton issue spliced in there. I can barely recall what I order online, but I will always recall that stack of crisp Silver Surfer #1's and plinking down an entire quarter for a copy of a comic that was not an annual. 

Hi Rick. Thanks. Yeah... exactly! :)

Thanks, Aiden. 

I've never embraced the backlash that "Pop Art" faced (and still faces) from the oh-so-serious critics. I find it ironic that their criticisms today are now most often levied on their (unedited and unreviewed) blogs and other social media, which one can indict with the same accusations of "transient commentary that anyone can do" as have been made about Warhol, et al. Using one form of Pop Art to criticize another. 

Thanks, Miles. I am super-happy with how these turned out. It's a mega-dose of nostalgia.

Thanks, Rick. These were super-fun to work on and Bob was absolutely terrific, responsive, creative, and so on. Nothing but a pleasure. 

High praise, Glen, from a man with the actual covers :) Thanks. 

There's also something that makes no sense. Are they inside or outside? On their side of the door there is a countertop with glassware and tools, a decorated Christmas Tree, and a axe in a stump. Through the window (unless it's a reflection, there is a person walking by. I almost titled it "The Twilight Zone."

I love, love, love the inks on this. You can see just how clean those lines are in the couple of detailed views. That's some experience showing there. 

I have an unnatural attraction to pages with Sue Storm in action. The pages I assembled from issue 101 are among my favorites. I'd give an arm for that page from FF 86 where she makes her surprise return to the book and rescues the team in Latveria at Fury's direction. This is the story I'd vote for in the first Marvel Studios adaptation. Forget the retelling of the origin except perhaps in flashback allusions during the brainwashing. 

The F4! ... Fantastic Four Fanatics Fraternity

That's funny. The very first time I saw this (and it's been a while... I just never got around to posting it), I reacted to it as a Held drawing. Wishful thinking, I guess. The level of abstraction in the face/head convinced me otherwise. Too bad there is no clue or remark on the back to try and pin down its appearance in print.

So wonderful to hear from the classic Kirby fans. Regardless of age, we grew up on these pages.

I see you have page 4 from issue 35! Classic. We are issue 35 brothers... I have page 8. :)

Thanks, Dino. As is your FF/Surfer page!

Says the person with a full on battle page with pseudo-Doom from FF 100 and with the X-Men from FF 28! I'll take that as an expert opinion.

The only thing missing is a "Why I oughta..."

Thanks, Mark. It's truly of a time.

I agree! And it was hard to not just quote the entire page. "Stop turning invisible..." You can see Lee sitting there, looking at the art he got and running with the dialog. 

Thanks, Rob. I've clipped it, posted it, and attributed it! Where is his work, I wonder?

The perceived depth of this composition is remarkable.

And check out the ad on the back page. Pick up some of those leftover Cerebus #1 issues for $1.25... don't forget to add $0.35 for mailing.

Haha. Thanks, Monty.

The classic Marvel headshot motif.

You'll have to wait for my obituary, I'm afraid. :)

As of 31 May 2020, this posting exhausts my supply of Hill pages. My examples all date from between 1942-1954. At one per week, that's 676 installments that exist(ed), of which I have 48 of them. It's a shame that there does not seem to be a broader appreciation for this interesting and well-crafted work. Hill had a real eye for observation and commentary. 

Bwah hah hah hah... well, one more of these to go and then I'm out.

Mayday. Mayday. I only have 3 more in the queue. 

FL? Too bad the Governor seems to be channeling the spirit of the apocryphal "Florida Man." 

True dat! One of the things I liked was that there are few panels where the partially ignited Johnny Storm is caught in the midst of flaming on, and usually it was a head shot. I have not gone back through to take a head count, I actually think that this whole-body view may be unique (or if not, at least rare). Maybe I'll look one day. 

Thanks, Andre. Perhaps it is obvious that it is one of the few that is hanging on a wall.